Donald Trump’s tax returns subpoenaed by New York prosecutors

New York prosecutors have subpoenaed US President Donald Trump’s tax returns, a person familiar with the matter told Associated Press on Monday. Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr’s office recently sent a subpoena to Trump’s accounting firm seeking the last eight years of state and federal tax returns for Trump and his company, the Trump Organisation, the person said. The person was not authorised to speak publicly about the matter and spoke on the condition of anonymity. Asked about the subpoena as he left the White House on Monday, Trump said: “I don’t know anything about it.” A lawyer for the Trump Organisation, Marc Mukasey, said he is “evaluating the situation and will respond as appropriate”. Vance, a Democrat, subpoenaed the Trump Organisation last month for records related to payments Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, helped arrange to a porn actress who claimed she had an affair with Trump. His office is also pursuing a state mortgage fraud case against for former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. Vance’s office declined to comment on Monday on the tax returns subpoena, the news of which was first reported by The New York Times. Trump’s accounting firm, Mazars, said in a statement that it “will respect the legal process and fully comply with its legal obligations”. Democrats will ‘never’ see Trump’s tax returns, White House vows Mazars was subpoenaed earlier this year by a House committee seeking Trump financial records. The firm said it believes strongly in ethical and professional rules governing the accounting industry and does not comment on work it does for clients. Trump, a Republican, is already fighting efforts by several Democratic-led Congressional committees to obtain his tax returns and other records that could give them a window into his finances. Trump and three of his children filed a lawsuit in April seeking to block two House committees from getting records that his long-time lender, Deutsche Bank, has said includes tax returns. A federal appeal court indicated last month that it would take a hard look at the legality of the subpoenas after Trump’s lawyers argued the House committee subpoenas were too broad and unconstitutional. In July, Trump sued to block the application of a new state law in New York that could allow a third House committee to obtain his state tax returns. In April, he and his company sued the chairman of the House oversight committee to block a subpoena issued to Mazars seeking financial statements, accounting records and other documents covering 2011 to 2018. Meanwhile, New York Attorney General Letitia James is investigating whether Trump exaggerated his wealth to obtain loans. She issued subpoenas to Deutsche Bank and Investors Bank in March seeking loan applications and other records related to Trump real estate projects and his failed 2014 bid to buy the Buffalo Bills. Trump must hand over tax returns within two weeks, Democrats say Vance’s investigation appears to be covering some of the same ground as two federal probes. Federal prosecutors in New York and Washington, who spent months probing payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign to two women who said they had affairs with Trump, Daniels and model Karen McDougal. Cohen, who made one of the payments himself and arranged for American Media, the parent company of the National Enquirer, to pay the other, pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations, tax evasion and other crimes and is serving a three-year sentence at a federal prison in upstate New York. A lawyer for Cohen declined to comment on Vance’s subpoenas. Trump, who denies any sexual relationship with either woman, has said any payments were a personal matter, not a campaign expense. The US attorney’s office in New York informed a court last month that it was finished investigating the payments. No one besides Cohen was charged, though prosecutors said in public court filings that Trump himself was aware of and directed the payments. The Trump Organisation also reimbursed Cohen for money he paid to Daniels. Cohen has argued that organisation officials disguised the true nature of the payments and that it is unfair he is the only one prosecuted. ‘China, if you’re listening, why don’t you get Trump’s tax returns?’ The federal inquiry looked at whether campaign finance laws were broken. The New York Times reported, citing “people briefed on the matter”, that Vance’s inquiry involves an examination of whether anyone at the Trump Organisation falsified business records by falsely listing the reimbursements to Cohen as a legal expense. Falsifying business records can be a crime under state law.